Everyone Changes
by hmw95
Summary: Leo has been changing... Too much. What would Leo say to Raph to make him feel all the guiltier? CHARACTER DEATH!
1. Chapter 1

1 Everyone began to notice Leo's change in attitude. He was always skipping out on meditating and just going to his room and keeping the lights off. Everyone thought it was just a phase. Until day by day, it got worse. He would go out to the surface and get injured, on purpose. One of those days, Raph was starting to get tired of it.

"I mean, the only thing he hasn't resorted to now is cutting himself! He is being such a jerk!" Raph yelled to Donny. Although he didn't know that Leo was just outside the lab door. His shell cell was broken and he was going to ask Donny to fix it.

"Raph, I know what you mean. But he needs us bro. Yelling at him won't help." Don replied. _No... not Don too._ Leo thought as he listened in. _I'm just an annoyance... _

"You know what? I hate his attitude, his new colored bandana (darkest shade of blue), his stupid black trench coat he wears all the time... You know what? I HATE HIM!" Raph bellowed. A single, lonely tear went down Leo's cheek. With that he walked into the lab and looked at his younger brothers.

"Raph..." He said, barely over a whisper. The tear dripped of his face onto the floor. Raph stared wide eyed at the sight of his older brother showing weakness.

"Leo... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"You did... I am sorry for being an annoyance. I..." At a loss of words, Leo just turned and left the lair. Raph walked up to his room and soon fell into a deep sleep.

_A gun shot rang out through the chilly night, followed by a scream. When he looked u_p, _saw dark blue bandana tails falling to the ground. _

Raph shot up in bed. There was something about that dream... _No..._ Raph thought. _I just had a vision._


	2. Horror

Raph took off as fast as his legs could take him through the sewer tunnels. He _had_ to find his older brother. He still remembers when the foot ambushed Leo…

FLASHBACK

Leo took off on a training run. –Growl- Always thinkin' he better than us. Leo can just get killed for all I cared! But it was starting to get light. I started to worry. Even though I didn't show it.

_Why did he always have to be a hero! He's probably scoutin' the lair… like Sensei told us NOT to do. But seriously… Leo was supposed to be back hours ago. What if somethin' happened? Nah… He'd call us._

_Right?_

_Now Don and Mike were worried too. I could tell. That's when Sensei FINALLY let us go to try and find im'. _

_That's when I heard a faint screaming. I didn't take to much notice to it._

_Until it sounded a little too familiar. Like a certain turtle I know._

_I turn my head and fear the worst. Once it was facing the window, it shattered. But what made me gasp was what flew through April's window._

_Leo lay bloodied on the ground. I took in his injuries. He had lots. But the two that stood out were one to his lower plastron and to his arm._

"_LEO! NO!"_

END FLASHBACK

His thoughts ceased as he heard gunfire. _No…_Raph headed towards the commotion. He was not surprised to see a gang war. But what really surprised about was the turtle hiding away from them watching. And he had a dark blue bandanna. He rushed over to where his elder brother was.

The gang member took notice that one of those turtle creatures were sneaking around. He aimed the gun and slowly pulled the trigger…

"RAPH!!" The scream echoed through the night and Raph watched in horror as blue bandanna tails fell to the ground.


	3. Death and Doubts

_No_… Raph looked around the area to see that most of the gang members were gone or dead.

He kneeled down to his elder brother to see where the bullet had got him. Raph slowly turned Leo's body around, and many scenarios went around in his head.

But he was unprepared for this.

The bullet caught the older turtle in his stomach. And from the ocean of scarlet pouring freely, Raph guessed an organ had been punctured. A single tear when down his face and dripped onto the bloodied plastron, mixing the salt and the copper.

"Leo… no…" He whispered, as he pulled off one of his kneepads to try and slow the bleeding. A weight on Raph's heart was gone when shaky hands weakly gripped both of his own.

"I-It'll be okay R-Raph." He whispered, weakly. Leo gripped Raph's hands harder.

"Leo… I'm sorry… I-I don't hate you. I love you bro." The younger turtle choked out through tears. Leo reached his hand up and touched Raph's face. He wiped away the tears.

"Raph… I-It's 'kay. E-everyone changes." Leo whispered. More weight on Raph's heart was put on. _Everyone Changes. _That's it, the thing that made Raph angry. Not at Leo, but at himself. Leo was changing… and Raph wouldn't accept the changes. But, _everyone changes._

"Leo, I'm gonna call Donny n' get 'im ova here. Jus' hang on." He dialed and got Donny yawning, with a 'Hello?'. "Yo, Don! Get ova here! I don't care if ya need your sleep, Leo's shot! Ight… Hurry!" Raph closed the phone and continued to keep pressure on the wound.

"It… 'Kay…" Leo rasped, repeating what he said before the phone call.

"Leo… It's not okay… Y-you're gonna die!" Raph yelled. More tears fell down his face as he told the elder the truth. He felt warm, sticky blood well up between his fingers. It would soon be the end.

"Raph…" Leo whispered. Raph turned away. "R-Raphael… L-look at me." The younger looked at the dying turtle. "R-Raphie… Even if I d-die here, I-I'll always b-be there. Whether you l-like it or n-not, I-I'll always b-be in y-your heart."

"I-I love you bro." Raph felt the blood begin to leak over his hands onto the alley floor.

"I... Love… You Too… Raph." Leo whimpered between shallow breaths. Suddenly, Raph felt the hand still on the side of his face fall back and saw Leo's eyes flutter shut.

"No… NO!" Raph yelled, realizing what was happening. He heard more gunshots and knew what happened… The gang war continued on the rooftops. Raph was about to leave, when he heard the clicking of a gun. A loud crack was heard, and then blazing pain went up the back of his neck. Raph's eyes widened at the sensation, but before he could scream, the world turned into darkness.


	4. Found: Dead and Alive

Mike was playing videogames and Don was sleeping.

_DUDE! I'm doing GOOD! I beat like, four bosses in like, fifteen minutes! I'm awesome!_ Mike thought as he was almost beating his game. That's when he heard Don yelling.

_But Raph and Leo are gone! Who else can he yell at?_ Mike paused the game to see what Don's outburst was about.

"SHOT! Umm... okay, Raph, keep pressure on his wound. And stay CALM!" Don yelled._ WHAT?? LEO GOT SHOT!_ Mike realized. They weren't late on purpose. His elder brother was hurt. Don stood up and walked over to the door and saw Mike there.

"Mike, we need to get to Leo and Raph! They're in trouble!" Don said. They grabbed their weapons and tied on their bandannas. They ran up to the battle shell and got in. Don turned on his Shell Cell tracker, and then they drove off as fast as they could.

The two turtles finally made it to the area. But Raph was nowhere!

"RAPH! Where are you?" Mike yelled. That's when he saw a shell cell over by the wall. Mike sighted two large shadows. One was on the ground, laid down, and the other was leaned over the other. Mike ran to both of the shadows. He started to shake the one he believed to be Raph.

"Raph?? Come on bro! Quit playing around!" The younger stated. Then he pulled his hand away from the back of his brother's neck and gasped from what he saw. There was blood covering his hand.

"DON!" Mike shouted as fast as he could. Don made his way over there and saw the wound. He went to try to find a pulse, frantically. Don was relieved to feel a weak pulse. He then went to check the one who was first to get shot. Tears started to fall.

No pulse.

"Mike… Grab Raph and head back. I'll get Leo."

"Ummm… Are they… you know? Alive?" Mike asked. Don sobbed. The youngest realized that, and looked to his brother before going over to the elder.

"W-which one?" Mike questioned, tears brimming his eyes. He laid a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.

"L-Leo…" Don cried. Mike's eyes went wide, tears falling. He knew how hard it must be for Don. Raph has always been Mike's hero… but Leo was Don's hero.

Sure this was a big blow on all of them, but Don's hero was _dead_.

"L-let's get home bro. R-Raph needs help too." Mike said wiping tears away. But they wouldn't stop. His _brother_ was dead and his_ hero_ was dying.

"Y-yeah…" Don replied. It was the same for him. The tears wouldn't stop. The two remaining brothers carried the living and dead body into the battle shell and took off. 

But no matter what…

They will always be one turtle short.

A/N: Two more chapters after this one. The last chapter and the epilogue!


	5. Always Watching

A/N: Okay… I lied. This is the last chapter, then I am going to continue Pain Forever and get going on my "What if…" series.

When Raph awoke, he expected to be in bed.

All he saw were familiar sewer walls, and heard a faint, annoying beeping sound.

He turned his head to see a surprised, blurry-faced turtle. A purple strip went across the turtle's eyes, so he guessed it was Don.

"Kay?" He heard. Raph knew that Don said more, but he didn't hear it. He couldn't even move or open his mouth anyway. He couldn't even feel his arm. Wait… Why? Raph ended up just closing his eyes and drifting into sleep instead. Don walked away from the bed, with a frown on his face. He passed by the containment they had for Leo's body so that it wouldn't get atrophic before his burial. A tear snaked its way down his cheek and dripped to the floor. He wiped it away furiously, and left the lab. Mike was sitting at the couch watching television.

"Is he okay?" Mike asked. He was on the edge, because his hero was shot. Raph had barely made it. It was a miracle.

"Yeah, he woke up just a moment ago…"

"REALLY? I wanna see 'im!" Mike yelled and started to make a mad dash to the lab door, only to be blocked from Don.

"Mike, his brain isn't fully tuned into reality. He is unconscious at this time, anyways. Sorry, Mike." Don said, the former frown forming once again. Mike stopped being jumpy and his shoulders shrugged. "He should be normal by tomorrow though, and then we should be able to talk to him and I can check for any side affects that the shot to the neck gave him."

"Yes!! He needs to like, wake up sooner!" Mike yelled, getting jumpy again. Don walked away, shaking his head from slight disturbed amusement. He walked into his room and laid down on his bed, falling into a nightmare filled dream.

Raph awoke again, but this time, nothing was blurry. He turned his head to look around, even though it did pain him. His wound was still healing. Anyways, HE COULD MOVE! But, he still couldn't feel his left arm. Why couldn't he feel his arm? Raph tried to move it, but his arm didn't even twitch to even show he was even trying. Then, the lab door burst open.

"Raph! You're awake." He turned his face, despite the pain, to look at his brother. Don stood next to him, checking over him.

"How long was I out?" Raph whispered, hating how weak he sounded.

"About four days… But that doesn't matter. Is there anything that hurts besides your neck or any side affects?" Don asked, still looking over his older brother's body.

"Don… I think there's something wrong. I can't feel my left arm or even move it!" Raph informed. Don's eyes widened and he looked at Raph with pain filled eyes.

"Raph… It looks like the bullet managed to sever your nerves in your arm. Y-you won't be able to move it…" Don explained. Raph's eyes widened in realization.

"W-will it heal?" Raph asked. Oh, god, this can't be happening!

"I-I don't think so Raph. I-I'm sorry…" Don choked out. Raph suddenly remembered what happened those several nights ago. Tears fell down his face and rolled down the back of his neck, making it sting.

"I-I really screwed up Don… Didn't I?" Raph cried. Why is he still here while his brother will soon be laying six feet underground?

"R-Raph… It wasn't your f-fault…" Don whispered. It was so hard, knowing one brother was dead and the other was wanting to die.

"Don! He took that bullet for _me!_ Now he's the one who is dead, and I am still here! It's my fault he's even dead! If he didn't take that bullet…" Raph's voice trailed off.

"Raph! You would be dead instead of him! We would all do what he did that night! So stop taking the blame and get over yourself!" Don shouted. Raph closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He knew it was the truth, but it still hurt him. He dreamt of him having a nightmare and Leo sitting next to his bed, comforting him. The feeling of abandonment and loss quickly faded and Raph smiled.

Leo never left him. His elder brother was always watching.


End file.
